So it's been a trying week for me. My air conditioner has gone out, and it's pretty hot. Not quite unbearable, but uncomfortable. I've been working a lot of hours, and the thought of getting another night of fitful sleep, being not so appealing, I spend a couple nights in my parents' guest room, until i would have some time to be there to let the A/C guy in (plus they live closer to work than i do, so it was a shorter drive, and free food--can't argue that). My bro stayed back at my place and proceeded to make messes and not clean them up. Oh, and when it went out, water leaked out of it somehow, and into the ceiling above my downstairs bathroom. More on that damned bathroom later.

Well, that backfired, because my parents, who live in what you would consider a very safe area, apparently have a "knucklehead" teen who rummages through cars at night. I didn't know this, and I would usually lock my doors anyway, but I guess one night late after work when i was grabbing all my gear i didn't double check that it was locked, and my wallet was in the center console.

I always have 200-300 bucks for emergency cash in my wallet, and that's gone, and I can live with that, but it's really tough and annoying to not have my credit cards. I had to call and cancel the card numbers and all that jazz. Annoying because the first number we found was for a random close branch where I didn't know anyone, and they were an idiot. Luckily, there was enough juice in my phone to get folks I knew on the horn at each bank, and that was settled. The cop was very professional. I appreciate that. Cops are much better out in the boonies than in the city. Last time something was stolen from one of our cars, we had to deal with Chicago police. blech.

So then i get back to my place, and the downstairs toilet won't flush. Easy enough fix if I wasn't exhausted. Now on my weekend off I'm going to have to go grab some parts and replace the stupid crappy seal. Oh, and also the weirdest thing from my garage door. It's getting stuck as it goes up. not going down. it seems to close fine, but it'll stop partway up, and then just go back down. This morning, after much inspection of the rails, I can find no obstructions, and magically it seems to be working again. Why would it only be broken when I'm outside of my place trying to get in, but then once i'm in and able to see, then it works. It's a conspiracy against me.

Anyway. So I'm already at wits end with the long weeks, and the mess, why does everything have to break too? Do you ever have days where it feels like the world is crashing down around you?

Aw man, when it rains it pours! I've noticed for years that things will go smooth for a long while, then everything will come crashing down at once. A pretty morbid example: I guess it was 3 years ago when I lost 2 cats, a cousin, an old high-school buddy, and my favorite singer even died all within a couple months of one another. That's a pretty extreme example, it's usually mundane stuff like getting towed, the well-pump blowing up, the mower breaking, etc. at practically the same time after years of no problems with any of them.

But you actually own a building...on property that is yours? Impressive. It's a broken garage door, but it's your broken garage door. I aspire to be like you someday. A vehicle is out of the question for me.

Owners and renters have a different set of woes, I guess. I'm soon moving into a bachelor apartment, downsizing from a one-bedroom, and paying more for it too. There are leaks and things breaking around here too. But with my 48 hour work weeks on the vampire death shift (8PM to 8AM), I simply can't find time to call the landlord to fix all this. Doing so would mean he comes in during the daytime when I desperately need sleep. Repairing one thing would wreck my sleep schedule for a whole week. Not worth it.

Consider how much you're getting taxed (most of it going to the worst people imaginable) compared to what the small-time wallet snatcher got.

Also, Steve, think of how blessed you are that I am replying to your post on my precious wee time off. You are getting something very special here. Ha ha.

Then there's the getting older problem combined with no decent career combo. Hey ladies, want a low wage guy who sleeps in the daytime and has almost no free time? No?

Anyway, we're all getting screwed really hard together. Trust me, the robber is getting chewed up and spit out pretty bad. Inflation is getting ridiculous here. Living alone in Halifax, paying only for necessities, costs over 1k a month. Insane. You can cut expenses by living with others like rats in a hole, but that's not for me. The apartment units are designed, of course, to minimize space for tenants. How nice. Heh, tenants is "ten ants"--how about that. You can buy a home, generally by becoming a debt slave for life. No thanks to that. Hrmm...we're all screwed. The only solution is somehow buying rural land and going off the grid, growing as much of your own food as possible, etc.

You may have noticed that the previous generations had plenty more than you or I. Fewer work hours, homes, cottages, vacations, cars, kids (lol, impossible). Every system is set up against you all the time, not just in this difficult week. Maybe that's what is subconsciously eating at you.

Sorry Steve,
I hate losing the ID with Birthdays etc. If they take that you better file the police report with the big 3 credit reporting agency's and change your pin/Key word cause ID theft is likely in route. Even if they don't take the CC and ID I hear some scum just photo it all and take the cash in hope you don't cancel stuff.
They get more than what's in the wallet that way.

When my purse was stolen about 8 years ago, the thief just took the money (about 100€) and the EC card and threw the purse into a random letterbox (whose owners promptly called me a few hours later), so the issue didn't go worse beyond calling the bank to block the card and getting a new one. That was luck, they could as well have thrown it into a trashcan.... or worse. Apart from the nightmare of getting back all cards and documents, there's also the possibility of what could result from identity theft, like buying things, making contracts or even committing crimes in one's own name. The extent depends on what can be found in your purse and how you react, as said.

WTF, PCM?!!? Did you run across Bane or somehting? Hope you get better.

So it seems like I'm not the only one with a ****ty week? Going to a funeral in a few hours for a friend who was shot last week. they have one guy in custody, still looking for the other. Going to be seeing a lot of people I hadn't seen in years, but most of all... seeing someone in a casket who did not have to go out this way. :/

Yesterday I had to buy a new alternator for my car because it died on Tuesday. Tuesday was terrible because I worked a 12 hour shift and made $39. "Why so low, Leo?" WELL... I wasn't paying attention and didn't notice that the delivery paid some on a credit card and the rest in cash. HOWEVER I will NOT take full blame as they didn't hand me the cash. Not even for a tip. So not only did I get no tip, I had to cover THEIR part of the bill, leaving me with $39 in tips for a 12 hour work shift. And then my car died while in line at Jack in the Box. I cried. And I hate dishonest, white trash *******s! the alternator broke my bank so I have zero dollars, baby! yes! *sarcastic :alright: *

Techno, you are right. That's my number 4 rule: When it rains, it pours. Make sure you have an umbrella.

I think we all need ****ing hugs around here! COME ON! GROUP HUG!!!

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Hey, Stillman, would you want to date a chick trying to get her **** together, back in school, has a crap job, and lives with her brother? :wink2: hahaha!

What a week. What a goddamn, ****ing week. For all of us, apparently. HEY, SOMETHING BROKE IN THE UNIVERSE!!! GO FIX IT, MODS!!

I tried to tackle a very, very large man to forcibly take from him bubble wrap. He saw it coming and brushed me aside, which turned into more of a toss than a brush. I fell hard on my left side, curled up and back contorted, and my L2 and L3 both cracked, as well as the transverse processes of those vertebrae. So now I get doped up on oxycodone and wait for it to get better.